Born Sinner
by Catacoma
Summary: A trainer begins his Pokémon journey in the mountainous Kyro region. However, he soon learns that his goal of becoming world champion will send him down a path of danger that will change him forever. Original characters in an original region. Rated M for violence, coarse language, drug use, and sexual situations.
1. Intro (The Warm Up)

**Chapter 1: Intro (The Warm Up)**

I've always wanted to be a Pokémon trainer, and not just any old regular trainer, but the champion of the Kyro league. Being the world champion would be nice to, but younger me always thought I was being generous when I settled on Kyro champion. When I was little and things in my life went bad, I'd close up my eyes and pray to Arceus that I would one day be champion. In my premature mind, being champion meant I would be strong enough to stop all the bad things happing to me, including saving my mother. She got real sick right before my eighth birthday, and she never got better. A tumor in her brain killed her, and it sent me into the foster care program. Normally if that happens to a kid they still have their father to look after them. The real kicker is I have no idea who my father is, considering the bastard ran out on my mother and me before I was even born. He did leave me one parting gift though, my name. It's Sanjay, by the way. I have no idea why my mother still named it that after he ran out, and I suppose I'll never find out. After bouncing around foster homes for eight years, my faith in Arceus died out, but one thing that's never changed is my desire to become the champion.

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

As my alarm went off I sleepily tried to reach over and hit the snooze button, but it wasn't there. Opening my eyes I looked and saw it sitting across the room on my dresser. I had to get up to turn it off, and by that time I was already awake. Then I remembered why I put it over there. Today's the day I turn sixteen, and that means I can officially become a Pokémon trainer and go on a journey to collect the gym badges.

Suddenly I didn't feel tired at all. I'd packed the night before, and said goodbye to all my friends, so I was already prepared to go register as a trainer and start my journey. While brushing my teeth I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't really feel any different from the day before, but according to the government I'm now old enough to drive and battle in the gym circuit.

Looking at myself I had to admit I was pretty good looking. I had a few old pictures of my mom, and she was quite the looker. I didn't know what my dad looked like, but he was a native Gurgish, the original inhabitants of the Kyro region. I actually looked pretty white, like most of the Kyroti people. The only giveaways to my Gurgish heritage were my slightly olive skin and dark hair. I did get my mother's green eyes though, which made me happy.

About three hundred years ago the Kyro region was known as the Gurgesh region, home to the Gurgish people. Then, settlers from the Sinnoh region came, fleeing religious persecution (or something like that, I'm not a historian), and they nearly drove the Gurgish people into extinction. Kyro is an extremely mountainous region, and nowadays the few remaining Gurgish either live in poverty in the Giri Mountains, or they live in slums in the city. The "regular" Kyroti citizens live in the valleys that dot the landscape, which is where most of the habitable space in Kyro is.

Not that any of that really mattered to me. The only thing I cared about was becoming a strong trainer. To hell with politics.

I finished getting ready and headed downstairs. The house was quite, so that meant Tiffany was probably already off at work. Tiffany was my foster parent, but we weren't particularly close. Bouncing around six foster homes tends to not make you want to get to close to your new "parents". Tiff wasn't too bad though. I'd managed to live with her for almost two years, due to the fact that we came to an agreement when I first got here. If I got a part time job and helped pay for the bills, she would leave me alone. It worked for the most part, although we didn't have any love for one another. I was basically her roommate, though she did cook for me whenever she made dinner. I actually preferred it this way, since I could take care of myself. I'd told her months beforehand that I was leaving when I turned sixteen, and she was completely fine with it.

I took one last look at the apartment that we lived in. I didn't have any love for this place, but it was the longest I'd lived in the same place for eight years. I would miss it.

I turned and went outside. The morning sun was just peeking out from under the ground as I started walking to the Trainer Registrar building. I was glad I lived pretty close to it, considering how big this city was. It was the largest in Kyro, called Jameson's Station (commonly called the Station for short). It was named for the first Sinnohan who crossed into Kyro. He decided this was the perfect place to build a house, and soon an entire town sprang up. Today skyscrapers dotted the skyline, and the city was home to over two million people, almost a third of the entire country of Kyro.

I reached the registrar pretty quickly, and went inside. The building was completely empty of other trainers, with only a few tired looking employees at their desks. I went up to one of the desks, where a tired looking forty something woman was working.

"Um, I'm here to register as a trainer."

"Name." She asked without even looking up.

"Sanjay Dunn."

That did manage to get her attention. She looked up to study me. Native Gurgish were pretty rare, I think we only made up something like five percent of the population. The worker managed to let out a yawn, though either because she didn't find me that impressive or because she was tired I couldn't tell.

Registering was surprisingly quick, the longest part was taking a picture for my trainer I.D. After we finished up she asked me if I would like to register my current Pokémon as part of my party.

"I don't have any." I answered sheepishly.

"Don't worry about that, you'd be surprised by how many people become trainers without having a starter Pokémon. Would you like to purchase any? We have captive bred Pokémon for sale for new trainers. I think this week it's Bellsprout."

I didn't have any money to spare and buy one, even though I thought having a Bellsprout would be pretty cool. Victreebel were pretty badass Pokémon. "No, I think I'll just catch one."

"Ok well you're officially a trainer now. Congratulations, and good luck. Oh wait, do you want to buy a Pokedex? We have government grants to sell them. It's $300."

I almost physically balked at the price. They were that expensive even with grants? I'd planned to buy one, supposedly they were invaluable for newer trainers, but I couldn't afford that.

"Do you have anything cheaper?"

"We do sell trainer field guides. They have a map of the region, and data on all the native pokemon, but obviously they don't have GPS or access to the internet." She said with a smile. "They're only $20." She quickly added.

I sighed, it was better than nothing. "I'll take it."

I planned to take a bus to the small town of Amos in the east. It was a seven hour drive, and I'd would've been a lot cheaper to walk, but the Station and the area around it was heavily populated, and I figured it would be easier to catch a Pokémon in a less crowded area. Amos was the perfect place to start my journey. I could catch a Pokémon around there and then travel east to the town of Oppel, where I would challenge my first gym.

I boarded the bus and found a seat near the back. I was too excited to fall asleep, but after a while I drifted off, dreaming about training.

I decided that the best course of action would be to stick close to Amos as I tried to find a starter Pokémon. Traveling all the way to the next town without having anything to protect me didn't seem like the smartest idea. The bus stop where I had gotten off was already near the edge of town, so I simply headed into the woods. I wasn't sure how wild this area was, or what types of Pokémon lived there, but I knew there had to be something out there weak enough for me to catch. I'd have preferred to buy my own starter, as most new trainers did, but I didn't have that kind of cash. Buying one meant you could dictate what kind of egg moves it knew, and really expensive ones had real fancy pedigrees. The pokeball factory in Speers sold Voltorb for an extremely cheap price, due to the fact that they are created from the excess energy given off when pokeballs are massed produced. Or something like that, I'm no scientist. Going that route would require me to travel all the back to Station, and besides, Voltorb are really lame. They don't eat, drink, or sleep, gaining all their energy by absorbing electricity. No, the only way I'm getting my first Pokémon is by catching one. With a determined stride I headed deeper into the forest. I wasn't following any path, using the logic that there would be less Pokémon around more crowded areas. Unfortunately it made travel difficult due all the underbrush I had to try and navigate.

"Fuck this shit."

I felt utterly defeated as I sat down on a big boulder at the edge of a small clearing, a cigarette in my hand. Who knew that catching a Pokémon would be this hard? It wasn't for a lack of finding anything. They forest was filled with Pokémon. Pidgey and Starly fluttered above me even as I rested, and the trees were filled Weedle, Caterpie, and Wurmple. Catching them was the difficult part. Supposedly it wasn't even easy if you actually **had** a Pokémon, but this was just impossible. I even found a Metapod that had fallen out of its tree and I couldn't manage to catch it, not that I really wanted it, but at that point I decided it was better than nothing. It broke out of the first pokeball I threw at it, so I tried to kick it to weaken it. All that got me was what I think is a broken toe. I wasted four of the six pokeballs I had on it, and I'd have to dip into my emergency funds to buy more.

Putting out my cig and tossing the butt onto the ground I started heading back to town, thinking maybe a Voltorb wouldn't be that bad, when suddenly I felt something tug at my hair. I reached up to get if off without even thinking and the next thing I knew my hand was stuck to my hair. Something very sticky was binding them together, and I realized it was a spider web.

"Can this day get any worse?" I yelled at no one in particular, frustrated that something like this happened. I tried to just walk off and drag the entire web with me, but the pain shooting through my skull quickly ended that plan.

I looked up to try and assess my situation when I noticed a green face clinging to the tree above me. It looked really weird, lacking any discernable features other than two small eyes and mouth. Said mouth suddenly shifted into a frown and I saw it start to come closer. At that point I noticed the six yellow legs and two more eyes, on its ass. It only took me a second to realize I'd been looking at it all wrong. The face I originally saw was part on the back of the creature, and what I'd assumed was its body was actually its head. It was a Spinarak. I'd dealt with Joltik, another spider Pokémon, all the time. They fed on the electricity in houses, and give you a painful shock if you weren't careful, but this Spinarak was easily four times their size. It might have been just trying to free me, so it could go back to catching proper prey in its web, but didn't plan on finding out what its motives were.

As the Spinarak slowly climbed down its web toward me I used my free hand to reach into my pocket. Fumbling for my lighter I pulled it out and raised it above my head. I tried to light only the part above my hair on fire, hoping that it would travel up, freeing me and scaring off the spider. Unfortunately I didn't know that Spinarak web was highly flammable, and I mean highly. Almost immediately the web caught on fire and I felt my head tug free. I barely heard the Spinarak give a squeak of pain, as I was a little bit preoccupied with the fact that my hair was now on fire.

Yelling in a mixture of surprise and pain I flung my backpack off and pulled the back of my shirt over my head. Falling onto the ground I tried to beat the flames down, while simultaneously rubbing my head into the ground. I managed to put it out, but my head hurt almost worse than anything else I had ever felt in my life. My hands weren't much better off, but I managed to rip my shirt off. The back of had multiple holes in it, and I cursed at the entire situation.

I turned around just in time to see the final bit of the web burn up, and luckily it didn't seem to catch any of the trees on fire. The Spinarak whose web I got caught in wasn't so lucky. It must have gotten got in the fire, judging by its prone form on the ground in front of me. I couldn't tell if it was alive or not, until I saw its abdomen move up and down.

At least it's still alive I thought, although it looked pretty burnt. I was to just walk away, still mad at it for this whole situation, when I realized that this was actually a golden opportunity to catch a Pokemon. I'm not one to look a gift horse (or spider in this case) in the face and walk away, so I pulled out a pokeball and tossed it at the Spinarak. It wobbled a few times, but the spider wasn't able to put up much in its condition and the ball clicked and fell still.

It took burning myself, a shirt, and some of my hair, but I finally had my own Pokemon. For the first time during this journey I felt like I was actually a trainer.

 **Hi, Catacoma here! This is the first story I've ever posted on here. Actually it's the first creative story I've ever written, so I apologize if it's not written well. If you enjoyed the first chapter, or even better, if you hated it, PLEASE review. I'm hoping that I can improve my writing, so be as critical as you can. Seriously, be brutal. The best way to learn is by learning from mistakes.**

 **Anyways there wasn't a lot of action in this chapter, but I promise there will be some in chapter two. This chapter was mostly about in introducing Sanjay and doing some world building in the process. The next chapter will introduce the other main character in this story, and there will be an actual Pokémon battle! Hopefully I'll have it released in a few days. This chapter was about 2500 words, and I'm shooting for about 1000 a day, so hopefully updates will come fairly quickly. (Can't promise the same when college starts in a week though).**


	2. Crawl

**Chapter 3: Crawl**

 **Sanjay**

It was nearly dusk by the time I made it back to the Pokecenter in Amos, and I was quite impressed by the building. Amos was only a small town, but the center here was still five stories high. I entered the lobby and marched right up to the front desk, where an old woman was doing paperwork.

"Hi, I'd like to register for a room, and I need to get my Pokémon checked out too." I figured I could get my hands and head looked at while I was at it. The burns from setting the Spinarak's web ablaze didn't seem too bad, but they still hurt like a bitch. My head was throbbing, and my hands hurt too much for me to grab anything except with the most gingerly touch. My hair was also missing a big chunk out of the left side, which was no doubt why the receptionist was staring at my head.

"Oh dear, are you ok? Come with me, the nurse is just back this way, and we'll work on getting you a room after you've seen her."

She led me through a hallway at the back of the lobby, and it led to large waiting room. The nurse behind the counter gave a small shriek as soon as she saw my head. I was quickly lead into a back room, with questions about what happened flying at me.

"Well, uh I got my hair caught in a Spinarak's web, and I didn't realize it was so flammable… oh wait! Here, can you check on this. I caught the Spinarak and he was burned pretty badly."

They took the Spinarak's pokeball from my hands, assuring me that they would take care of him. The nurse then treated myself. Like I thought the burns weren't very serious, but the nurse applied some kind of lotion on my hands, and then bandaged them up. They told me it would be easier to treat my head if they could remove my hair, and I told them it was fine. The nurse left the room and I went to the mirror to get a good look at my hair. While it wasn't exactly long, my hair was still a pretty decent length, coming past my ears. The left side where my hair caught on fire was pretty ugly however. The hair looked thin and messy, and in one spot it was burned away down to the skin, and that's where the burn marks were. I really hoped I would be able to grow hair there still.

The nurse came back shortly with an electric shaver and began to shave my head. She took care to avoid the burned areas, but I still felt a shooting pain the entire time she was doing it. When she finished she applied the same lotion she put on my hands and wrapped my head in a bandage. She gave me a bottle of the lotion and a roll of bandages with strict instructions to apply the lotion and change the wrapping every morning and night.

I asked about my Pokémon, and she told me to go ahead and head back to the receptionist in the lobby to get a room, because it would still be a few minutes. I made my way back to the lobby and found the same old lady at the front desk.

"Um, can I get a room now?"

"Yes, of course dear. Are you feeling better?" the old woman smiled up at me.

"Yeah. The lotion they put on me feels amazing." It was true, it had an instant cooling effect on my skin.

"I'm glad to hear that. What's your name? And I'll also need to see your trainer I.D."

I handed her my I.D., and after finding out this was the first Pokecenter I'd been in, she began to explain how they worked. Trainers get free rooms at centers, and also free medical care for themselves and their Pokémon. Rooms came on a first come first serve basis, and it wasn't uncommon to have to room with someone else. We were guaranteed at least a week in our rooms, but after that if there was a waiting list you would be booted out. The center also had a cafeteria, where it was only $5 to buy a meal ticket, which provided you with one meal.

The nurse who treated my burns entered the lobby from the back hall and looked around. Spotting me, she called out, "Sir, your Spinarak is ready to be picked up."

We headed back to the waiting room while she explained how the medical center worked. "Usually you'd have to come pick up your Pokémon yourself, but it's not too hard to tell that you're a new trainer, so I thought I'd come let you know."

"Thank you, and also thank you for taking care of my burns."

"Oh don't worry about it, that is my job after all."

I was about to leave, but after a moment's hesitation I turned around and asked the nurse, "Do you know what gender he is? I have no idea how to tell a spider's gender."

The nurse gave out a small laugh. "He's a male, you can tell by his pedipalps."

"His pediwhats?"

"Pedipalps, they're a small pair of legs, underneath his jaws. They're hard to spot unless he extends them. He uses them to help him spin webs, and they're enlarged in males. When he evolves they're used during mating. He grabs a hold of the femal-"

"Thanks," I quickly cut in, "Sorry but I don't really feel like learning how spiders reproduce."

The nurse laughed again. "I suppose most people wouldn't. I have to get back to work, but good luck on your journey."

I headed up to my room on the fifth floor. I had managed to get a room all to myself, since Amos wasn't exactly a very popular town for trainers to stay at. Most people only stayed a night before they either headed back to Jameson's Station or left toward the more wild areas of Kyro. The room wasn't very impressive, just two bunk beds across from each other. There was a desk by the window, and also a bathroom with a half bath inside. I decided I might as well take a shower before I dealt with the Spinarak I had just caught. It was kind of a hassle taking a shower, I couldn't put my head underneath the faucet, but "luckily" since they practically shaved my head it wasn't too hard to wash.

I stepped out and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I was almost bald, which looked weird, since I normally kept my hair pretty long for a guy. The burn on my head was also pretty ugly, the skin was scarred in an almost two inch circle. I sighed, I it'd take a few weeks before my hair would cover it up.

I stepped outside into the room and put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt I had packed for days off and lounging around my room. Picking up the Spinarak's pokeball, I looked at it with some trepidation. For all I knew it was hell bent on attacking me, and that was **before** I set it on fire. I thought about doing this in the lobby, where other people would be around who could help, but decided against it. I would have to face it eventually, so without stopping to think I held down the button on the ball and released the Pokémon into the room.

When the flash of light faded I got a better look at the Pokémon that I had caught. He had a small green body, broken up into two parts. The smaller head a small yellow horn in between his eyes, and two red fangs on either side of his mouth. The abdomen was almost twice the size of his head and blue band running around near the back. In the middle was the very distinct markings of a face that caused me to think was his head when I got stuck in his web. The face was only two small dots for eyes and line to represent the mouth, which at the moment was in a neutral position. His body was supported by three yellow legs jutting out from his abdomen. The legs were segmented into two parts, and each joint was blue.

He didn't looked burnt at all, which wasn't surprising considering how much faster Pokémon healed, especially when brought to a pokecenter. He looked confused by his surroundings, but when he turned and saw me sitting on the bed his abdomen line turned into a frown.

"Hey little guy. It's alright, my name is Sanjay." I smiled at him, hoping that it would calm him down. It didn't. He let out a squeak and fired a string of web at my face. I ducked, but he still managed to get some of it on my face.

I didn't want to panic and freak him, so I tried to remain calm. My heart was racing though, the nurse had informed me that his bite wasn't poisonous enough to kill a human, but it would still hurt. He hadn't moved yet, but he was still watching me, ready to fire another web if I made any sudden moves.

I slowly peeled the web off my face, and realized I should have checked my field guide on information about Spinaraks before I released him. I reached in my bag and pulled out a can of poke chow I had bought before I came to the center. It was the generic bug type food, and hoped it would help calm him down. I slowly took one of the pieces of kibble out, and held it out toward him.

He stared intently at my hand, trying to judge what I was offering him. He crawled forward, and I slowly lowered my hand to the ground, praying to Arceus that he wouldn't bite me. His jaws grabbed the kibble from my hands, and his frown turned into a smile. I considered that a good sign, and was quite happy till I saw him eat. He spat out some kind of acid on the kibble, and it dissolved into a gooey liquid. I then saw the pedipalps that the nurse was talking about. He was using them to shovel the liquid into his mouth.

"That's gonna take some getting used to."

I reached out toward him and touched his abdomen. He slightly flinched away from my touch, but didn't protest. I smiled, figuring that I was making real progress. I pulled out another piece of kibble, and handed it to him. While he was busy eating out pulled out my field guide and turned to the page on Spinarak.

 _Spinarak, the String Spit Pokémon._

 _Type: Bug/Poison_

 _Spinarak are nocturnal hunters. They spend the day sleeping and making repairs to their webs, and at night they wait motionless for prey to become ensnared in their webs. They are very sensitive to the vibrations on their webs, so much so that it can almost be considered a second nervous system. Their bite isn't deadly to humans, but is quite painful and leads to a rash like mark and swelling. Their webs are highly flammable, and they are preyed upon by large flying types. They are found almost all over the world, and in Kyro they are native at lower elevations in the valleys between the Giri Mountains._

While I was reading I heard a small thump. The Spinarak had managed to knock over the can of poke chow, spilling the contents all over the floor. It gave a squeak of victory and began to devour the pieces of kibble. I managed to save half of its contents, but I didn't want to get too near to him. He liked it when I gave him food, but I doubted he would react well if I tried to take it away.

"You're a little thief, you know that." I smiled though, I had thought of a name.

"I think I'll call you Bandit. How does that sound." Bandit didn't seem to even notice he'd been given a new name, so intent he was on his food.

The sun was beating down on me as I made my way to the Ramona. Ramona didn't have a gym, but if I headed even farther east, I would reach Oppel, home to the rock type gym. I had planned to challenge my first gym there, but considering the only Pokémon I had was Bandit, it wasn't a very appealing idea. His bug typing would put him at a huge disadvantage, especially considering most rock types were also part ground, and they resisted his poison type attacks.

Speaking of Bandit, we were getting along quite well. He was quite amiable for a spider, even though I suppose he's the only spider I know. He was riding on my back right now, his feet had tiny hooked claws allowed him to cling to my shirt quite easily. We had already beaten a few Sentret that were loitering about the path, and I considered trying to catch the one that he managed to knock out, but I didn't want a normal type that would be useless against the next gym.

I kind of felt silly trying to battle with him. He ignored almost all of my commands, and I wasn't sure if it was because he wouldn't listen or if he couldn't understand me. Either option presented a problem, but I hoped it was the latter. He did understand "attack" though, but only when I pointed at the Sentret. Almost all of them were able to escape when they realized they couldn't beat him, so I was going to have to figure out how to stop that when I found a Pokémon I actually wanted to catch.

It was a perfect summer day out, not a cloud in sky. It was actually really, really hot. I missed being able to just go inside and sit in the air conditioning, but I'd have to get used to it if I wanted to be a trainer. The Southern Giri Mountains were visible from the path I was taking, and their snowcapped peaks looked very inviting, but I knew both myself and Bandit would have to get a lot stronger before we would survive even one night up there.

"Hey kid, do want to battle?"

I turned around and saw someone running down the path toward me. I stopped and waited for him to get closer. He was a few years older than me, probably around nineteen or twenty, and he had thick, curly dark hair. He definitely looked like a trainer, with his muddy hiking boots and worn clothing.

He slowed down when he was about ten feet from me and said, "So how bout it, you want to battle?"

I was a little anxious, this would be first battle after all, and he looked experienced, but I still replied, "Sure."

"Great. How many badges do you have?"

"I don't have any yet."

"That's perfect!" He exclaimed, clearly excited by finding a rookie. "I just caught a Shinx, so I need someone we-, uh inexperienced to battle. Since you're a rookie, how about we wager only $10?"

"That's fine by me." I was actually kind of pissed he called me weak, so now I was going to make sure I didn't lose.

We walked a few feet off the path, and took places across from each other. He released his Shinx from its pokeball, and I had to admit it made me want one. Luxray were pretty cool Pokémon, and his Shinx looked pretty fierce for an unevolved Pokémon.

"Bandit," I called out. He climbed off my back and scurried out in front of me. He was starting to respond to his name now. When I first gave him his name, he didn't realize I was talking about him, but he seemed to understand this time. I hoped it was a good sign that he would listen to me.

"You ready?" The other trainer called out. I nodded and decided I wouldn't wait for someone else to make the first move in my first battle.

"Bandit use Scary Face!" Bandit, however had a different idea. He fired out a web at the opponent's Shinx. The cat easily dodged it however, and responded by running toward Bandit at full speed.

"Use Tackle." The other trainer called out. Bandit tried to fire another web at the speeding Shinx, but he easily sidestepped and rammed into the spider at full speed. Bandit flew back into my gut, and I collapsed. The force of his flying body knock the air out of me.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so." I answered hoarsely, struggling to breath.

"That was perfect. You're doing a great job." My opponent was talking to his Shinx now, and it looked positively delirious with happiness from its trainer's compliment.

Bandit picked himself up off the ground, and looked at my struggling form. "Come on Bandit. Scary Face is like this." I tried to make the most intimidating face I could. All it managed to do was elicit laughs from my opponent. I glared up at him, my own scary face coming naturally this time.

"Hahaha, I'm sorry. You have the right idea though." He said as he managed to calm down.

What did he mean, the right idea? I didn't know what he was talking about, but we weren't finished yet, and we weren't going to lose.

"Bandit, use String Shot!" This time he listened and fire a string of web at the Shinx. It managed to dodge and again charged forward in a Tackle attack.

Bandit tried to use another String Shot, but the Shinx managed to evade it. I was at my wit's end, how were we supposed to beat something we couldn't hit? As the Shinx almost reached Bandit, an idea came to my head, I just hoped Bandit would listen.

"Scary Face!" I almost screamed, praying that Bandit would listen. This time he did. When the Shinx was almost to him he raised his abdomen in the air and the eyes on his face slanted and his mouth drew into a frown. The Shinx, obviously frightened by the display, tried to stop, but his momentum carried him toward Bandit.

"Poison Sting!" Bandit fired a stream of small poisonous barbs at from his mouth at the frightened Shinx. All of them found their mark, and the Shinx gave a yelp of pain and jumped away.

 _Yes!_ I thought to myself. We can win this.

"Tell him good job." My opponent calmly said, a smile on his face.

"What?"

"Tell your Spinarak he did a good job. Trust me."

"Uh, good job Bandit. That was a good attack."

Bandit looked quite happy with himself, but I was confused why my opponent told me to compliment him. Shouldn't he be worried about his own Pokémon? I couldn't think about it though, we still had a battle to win.

The Shinx looked quite sick though, I guess taking a poison sting to the face at point blank range must have poisoned him. Not that I was complaining, it would make it that much easier for me to win.

"Bandit, use Constrict." He'd only used this move once, on one of the Sentret's we'd battled, so I knew it was a longshot that he'd actual listen to me. It was worth the chance though, if we managed to bind that Shinx the poison would run its course and we would win.

Bandit, however, didn't seem to come to that conclusion. Bolstered by my compliment, he continued trying to hit the Shinx with Poison Sting. The poison seemed to slowing him down, and several of the barbs made contact.

"Use Spark, like we practiced." My opponent called out.

Spark sounded like an electric attack, so I figured he tried to take down Bandit from a far, but to my surprise the Shinx again came barreling down toward Bandit. I smiled, we could just use Scary Face again, and then another Poison Sting from that close would end it.

"Scary Face!"

Bandit again tried to intimidate the charging Shinx, but it didn't seem to faze him at all. He crashed into Bandit at full speed, but this time there was an electric discharge as he made contact. Bandit flew back, and landing in the dirt. He tried to raise himself up with his legs, but collapsed and passed out.

I couldn't believe it. I lost my first battle as a trainer. All my hopes and dreams of becoming champion crashed down, like Bandit after he got knocked out.

"That was a good battle kid." I turned and watched my opponent walk closer.

"Hey what happened to your hea-"

He suddenly stopped talking. "That was your first battle wasn't it."

It wasn't a question. I returned Bandit and reached into my pocket to pull out my wallet, and was surprised to find that my opponent had pulled out a small case and held it out in front of me. He opened it up and I was shocked to find eight badges inside. He was only two away from completing the gym circuit. Anger flashed across my face, I thought he was about to gloat and say I wouldn't even be able to get one, but he surprised me with what he said.

"I lost five battles in a row before I managed to win one. And look at me now, I almost have all the badges."

I looked up at his face and he was smiling. "My name is Jason by the way."

"Jay." I replied. I generally went by that, since Sanjay was obviously a Gurgesh name.

"Don't worry about paying me. It wouldn't feel right taking money from someone who literally just started out."

I still pulled out the $10 and held it out in front of him. "It's cool. You earned it."

He took the $10 from my hand and smiled. "Are you heading to Ramona?"

I nodded, realizing what he was about to ask me.

"You want to travel there with me. It's a week journey, and trust me, it'll go by a lot faster with company."

Even though he beat me in my first battle, I agreed. He seemed like a good guy. He could've just took my money and went on his way, but he tried to make me feel better. I figured I could learn a lot about training from him, especially since he had eight badges, when most trainers didn't even manage to get five before they reached their ceiling.

I would take this loss and learn from it. One little loss didn't mean I wasn't any good. Besides, I still had a championship to win.

 **Chapter 3 is in the books! Remember to review if you liked or hated it. Sanjay lost his first battle, but he seems to be taking it well thanks to Jason. The next chapter will be a Bella view point, but since I go back to college in two days, I have no idea how long it will take me to write it. I'm shooting for an update every week, but it might be kinda hectic, so I apologize if it takes a little longer. Anyways, shout out to Marcus A for showing me how to fix line breaks. Everyone make sure you go check out his new Pokémon story!**


	3. Wool

**I decided to remove the Isabella chapter, which used to be chapter 2. Its been almost a month since I last updated, and that's a lot longer than I was originally planning. It's probably because I just went back to college, but I was really struggling to write Bella's next view point chapter. I originally wanted this story to just be from Jay's POV, and I've decided to go back to that. If you were a fan of Bella don't worry, she'll still be a main character, and she might even have some of her own chapters, but the story will mostly be told from Jay's perspective. She'll show up a bit later in the story, but for now I really wanted to get (new) chapter 3 up. I may edit it a bit later, but for now enjoy. Also I'm still having trouble with line breaks, but I tried to do it a new way, so I hope that takes care of the problem. And now that this is done, it's time to watch some football!**

 **Chapter 3: Wool**

"You know those things are going to kill you?" Jason said for the umpteenth time.

"Geez, I'm still young. I'll stop someday." I said. I flicked the shrinking bud of the cigarette from my hand and got up from the rock I was sitting on.

"You say that every time, and lo and behold you're smoking again." Jason observed.

"I don't mean the next day." I deadpanned. Since I was finished, we continued down the road toward Ramona.

We had this conversation almost every time I lit up a smoke. Jason seemed determined to make me quit. The third day since I started traveling with him I caught him trying to get his Infernape to burn the pack. That was almost the end are journey together, but I relented after he promised he wouldn't do it again. Jason seemed to enjoy looking after me, so I suppose this was just another way of showing he cared.

We'd been traveling together for five days now, which meant we were only a couple of days from Ramona. The road we were taking was quite popular with trainers. It was really nothing more than a dirt path, but for trainers trying to catch Pokémon and train it was the quickest path between Amos, the town we left, and Ramona, where we were heading. I'd yet to catch another Pokémon since Bandit, but I wasn't too worried. Oppel, where the nearest gym was located, was a three week journey from Ramona. I had plenty of time to catch a team mate for Bandit by then. Speaking of Bandit, he had really improved in the short time we had traveled together. He understood my commands now, which made battling with him easier. After losing to Jason, I lost to three more trainers before finally getting my first win. Bandit had managed to knock out some kid's Lotad, and when the kid challenged me again with his Totodile, Bandit managed to beat that too. Since then we had four battles in a row, and I was feeling pretty good about my chances of beating the gym at Oppel.

Jason was going to challenge the Oppel gym for his ninth badge, and after spending five days with him I wasn't surprised that he had managed to get eight. He and his Infernape, Shao, were in almost perfect sync when they were in battle together. Shao was his starter, and his speed was almost impossible to match. They hadn't lost a battle since I started traveling with them. In fact none of his team had lost a battle yet either. He had a full team of six, which included Shao, and a Musharna, Swanna, Gigalith, and a Roserade. His Shinx, who had managed to beat Bandit in both of their battles, was named Ion, and was by far his weakest Pokémon. I was surprised that Jason had waited to catch a sixth Pokémon till now, but since gym battles weren't six on six until the ninth gym, I supposed that it made sense. He'd went back home over the winter to stay with his family in Jameson's Station, and had just started his fourth year of training. Most trainers didn't make it past their first year, and Jason planned on beating the last two gyms before entering the Kyro tournament this year to try and become the champion.

Traveling with Jason had easily turned out to be the right choice. Besides his griping about my smoking habit, he was very easy to get along with. He was very carefree and funny, and he had taught me a lot about being a trainer. He also showed me how to set up a camp at night quickly, start a fire by hand, and he even tried to show me how to skin and clean a Sentrent that Shao had caught. Seeing all that blood made me a little queasy, but I figured it was an important skill to learn if I ever ran out of rations.

"So", Jason began, petting the Shinx he was carrying in his arms, "When are you going to catch another Pokémon? I know you told me you want to focus on training Bandit more, but you're going to want to train your next Pokémon as much as possible before we reach Oppel. The gym there specializes in Rock and Ground type Pokémon, both of which give your Spinarak a lot of trouble."

"I'll be fine, don't the pros always say the type matchups aren't everything in battles?"

"Yeah, once you reach a certain point. Those trainers are some of the best in the world, and their Pokémon carry coverage moves to give them the advantage against types they're weak too. Type matchup is incredibly important to new trainers like you. Bandit knows what, like five moves? Shao here knows over twenty, plus he's been trained long enough to improvise."

I fell silent and thought about what Jason said. Every piece of advice he had given me so far had been right on the money, so maybe he was right. Bandit hadn't fought a Rock type yet, but I knew enough to know that their attacks did double damage to him, because of his Bug type.

"So what would you recommend I catch?" I asked, trying to make it seem like I wasn't convinced yet.

"Definitely a Water or Grass type. We've made good time, and since we aren't in any hurry, there's a river nearby. You can always find those two types there. Let's take the day off and help you catch a Pokémon."

"I can catch it by myself."

"You sure? I won't interfere, I'll just give you some pointers."

"I'll be fine. I managed to catch Bandit by myself. Didn't I little guy?" I said to the little spider clinging to my back. It appeared to be his favorite place to on my body, probably since it offered the most shade from the sun.

"Ok then. I'll hang out around the road and train Ion some more. How about we meet back here at 6:00?"

I started to head off the road, but stopped and turned back around. "So where is the river?"

Jason reached into his bag and pulled out a map. Unfolding it carefully he spread it out on the ground and looked at it.

"It's right here," he said, pointing his finger onto a point on the map. "Just travel about an hour south of here, and you should reach it. You can find your way back right?"

"I'll manage." I could have Bandit mark trees with his web if I was really worried about getting lost.

"Good luck!" Jason called out as I walked into the woods.

The forest was buzzing with life as I tried to hack my way toward the river. Pachirisu scurried up and down trees, and Caterpie were busy making meals from tree leaves. The undergrowth was extremely thick once I left the road and it make going anywhere a challenge. Sweat made my shirt stick to my body, and I was glad I didn't put the bandages on my head. It was quite uncomfortable to wear when it got sweaty, and right now I was dripping with sweat. My burns had healed a lot over the past few days, probably due to the lotion I was given. My hands were covered with scabs, and the itching was driving me crazy, but in another few days I figured they'd be alright. My head still hurt, but at least my hair was starting to grow back.

I pushed my way through another bush and saw a bright light ahead. I was probably just a clearing, since I was still close to the road for it to be the river. Either way, it would be nice to get out of the woods. I cleared the last few bushes in my way and pushed into the clearing and into the sunshine. It was small meadow, covered by knee high grass and dotted with flowers. What caught my eye though was the herd of Sawsbuck and Deerling. Before I could even react, they looked up from their grazing at me and froze for a half a second, before bolting away toward the trees.

"Bandit, use String Shot!" Bandit climbed unto my shoulder and shot a string of web at the fleeing Pokémon, but it was a futile gesture. They deer Pokémon had already disappeared into the trees, and I cursed after them. Deerling were grass types, which meant they would have been the perfect Pokémon to catch.

I regretted not allowing Jason to come with me, but I quickly threw that thought away. So what if it had taken me hours to catch Bandit. I didn't know what I was doing then, and now I had a Pokémon to help me out. I grew up taking care of myself, and I could become a master trainer by myself too.

I felt Bandit climb down my body, and watched him walk forward, still looking out for the Deerling. I could tell he was sad due to the fact that the face on his thorax looked absolutely pitiful. He probably realized that I wanted one of the Deerling, though he most likely thought it was for food. I smiled, "That's right, I won't have to do this on my own."

Bandit turned around and I pointed to my shoulder. He understood and started climbing his way back onto my shoulder. I'd gotten used to having six legs crawl over me the past few days, though it was still a little unsettling.

"Let's go find that river buddy."

Little did I know that I would never see the river.

The ground started to slope downward shortly after we left the meadow, so I figured we were getting closer to the river, and hopefully to some Water type Pokémon. I began to move slower, being careful to try and not disturb the plants around me. I didn't want to stumble on another Pokémon and let it get away. I figured the best way to capture one would be to have Bandit try and slow it's movements with his String Shot. It wouldn't guarantee that the Pokémon wouldn't get away, but if we slowed it down hopefully Bandit would be able to keep up with it. Spinarak weren't very fast by Pokémon standards, probably because they normally hunted with their web.

A flash of brilliance crossed my mind. Maybe I could have Bandit build a web and wait for something to get captured in it, but I realized that it would take too long. We were supposed to meet Jason at 6:00, and a quick look at my watch told me it was already 2:00. Only something really dumb would stumble into his web during the day, and I didn't want a stupid Pokémon on my team.

We continued walking downhill when I noticed movement to my left. Dropping down, I scanned the forest for whatever I saw. Nothing was out of the ordinary, just trees and bushes. A Pidgey sitting high in the trees flew off, and I assumed that was what I saw, until I noticed a bush under the tree moving. Moving, not just shaking. I shuffled forward to try and get a better a view, and realized it was a Pokémon.

It had a small brown body covered with green leaves on its chest and back, which was what made me originally think it was a bush. Two small horns popped out the top of its head, and it had hooves for feet.

I quietly took off my pack and pulled out my field guide. I flipped through the pages until I found what was before me. Apparently it was a Skiddo, a Grass type. The field guide said it lived in herds with its evolved form Gogoat, but I didn't see anything else around. Maybe it had gotten separated from the herd, or maybe its parent was dead. All I knew was I needed a Grass type, and that it was alone.

"Bandit, I need you to get close and use String Shot." I whispered to the arachnid on my shoulder, bringing my hands close together to try and show him what I meant. Bandit watched my futile gestures, and turned and fired a string of web at the unsuspecting Skiddo, apparently only understanding "String Shot."

The Skiddo gave out a loud "baaaa" as it was hit by the web. It tried to bolt, but the web tangled its feet and it fell forward. Reacting quickly I rushed forward and grabbed Bandit from my shoulder. He gave a small squeak as I threw him at the struggling Skiddo and commanded him to use Leech Life.

Bandit flew through the air and crashed into the Skiddo. I winced a little, it wasn't exactly going as planned so far. He quickly gathered his bearings though and jumped onto the back of the struggling goat, sinking his fangs into its back to perform his Leech Life attack. The small goat gave another yelp of pain before bucking Bandit off. It tried to turn and run again, but Bandit fired another String Shot at it, effectively stopping it from going anywhere.

I smiled, we were definitely going to catch it now. The Skiddo, still struggling to free itself from Bandit's webs, was crying out as loud as it could. It sounded pitiful, and I briefly felt sorry for it. It probably thought it was about to be something's meal, but I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I wasn't going to let it get away because I felt sorry for it.

"Bandit, use-"

A heard something crashing through the undergrowth behind me. I turned and saw a large Skiddo running toward me. I briefly realized that it must have been a Gogoat before it crashed into me at full speed. My mind could barely register what had just happened before I went flying into the air. The wind whistled in my ears as I flew past Bandit and the struggling Skiddo. I crashed into a tree a few feet from where they were, and for a second everything was white.

My vision slowly came back, and as it did my chest exploded with pain. Everything looked a little hazy as I gasped for breath. I couldn't breathe, and for a few seconds I honestly thought this was the end. I dimly heard the sound of battle a few feet away. _It must be Bandit trying to not get fucking killed_.

My breath slowly returned, and when I felt the pain in my chest I almost wished it hadn't. The Gogoat had rammed into me squarely in the chest, and I was feeling it now. I pushed my prone body up with my arms, every breath a struggle. I looked over at the battle just in time to see the Gogoat slam its front hooves into the ground, causing a rumble in the ground that knocked Bandit over. The Gogoat wasted no time in closing the distance between them and stomped on Bandit with all weight. The little spider collapsed under the weight, clearly fainting. The large goat rose up again, prepared to finish him off for good, but I reached in my pocket and pulled out Bandit's pokeball. I returned him right as the Gogoat slammed his hooves down where Bandit had just been.

The goat snorted with anger and turned toward me, its eyes glistening with rage. In the split second before it charged, I felt a great fear overcome me. It griped the pain in my head, and the pain in my battered chest. This would be it, I'd be killed by a Gogoat not even a week into my journey. How pathetic.

I felt a grim determination take a hold of me, I wouldn't let this stupid Pokémon kill me. Ignoring the pain, I threw myself up and whirled around. I sprinted downhill, coughing and gasping. I still couldn't catch my breath, and my side burned with the exertion. I could hear the Gogoat barreling through the undergrowth behind me, it wouldn't be long until it caught me. Directly ahead of me the ground dropped off a few feet, and I took the chance to try and escape. With my lungs burning, I leaped off the edge of the depression, and since I was already going downhill I gained a lot of air.

I heard the Gogoat snort behind me and heard a whirl sound as it tried to stop its momentum. I grabbed on to the tree branch I was aiming for, my momentum almost swinging me clean off. The whirl sound grew louder and I felt a sharp, piercing pain throughout my body. My chest felt like it was about to explode as I hauled the rest of my body up on to the branch.

Praying to Arceus that Gogoats didn't climb trees, I slowly shimmied toward the trunk. Reaching it, I turned my torso around so that I was leaning against it. I could see the Gogoat disappearing into the foliage, apparently deciding that I wasn't worth the effort any more.

Another fit of coughing racked my body, and I felt my eyes tear up in pain. I covered my mouth with the collar of my shirt, and though I wasn't surprised, I was disturbed to see blood staining the shirt. I pulled up my shirt to inspect the damage, and I actually flinched when skin became visible. The area underneath my left pectoral was an ugly shade of purple and red. I felt down on the area with my hand, gasping from the effort.

My entire body felt like shit, but I waited a few minutes after the Gogoat left to climb down. Those few minutes felt like eternity, and when I dropped down I crumpled into the dirt. I braced myself and felt for whatever was making my left arm throb, and found something buried in my skin under my armpit. I tried to take a big breath in preparation of taking it out, but instead ended up in another coughing fit. I hadn't even picked myself up yet, so I just spat out the blood on the ground in front of my face.

My vision faltered, and everything started to spin. Not fighting it, I closed my eyes and let my mind slip into unconsciousness.

I woke to the sound of Kricketune singing to the night sky. The sun had already set, and for a second I couldn't remember where I was, but I then I remembered the sight of the Gogoat, its hate filled eyes glaring at me. I don't think I'll ever forget the sight. The Skiddo must have been its calf, and its cries of distress must have brought the Gogoat. I suddenly remembered Bandit, and I hoped he was alright. I still felt extremely weak from the attack, but I managed to dig his pokeball out of my pocket and release him.

The little spider didn't seem too bad off. He was holding one of his legs off the ground, but otherwise he just seemed a little beat up. He gave a small squeak when he saw the condition I was in, and scurried over too me.

"Well we sure got our ass kicked." I told him. I tried to give him a small laugh too, but quickly stopped when my chest protested.

I felt a cooling sensation on my leg and looked down at what Bandit was doing. He was spinning web on one of the cuts on my body, and it felt amazing. The spider began to move around, repeating the process. The cuts confused me. They were all superficial wounds, but there were so many of them, and I didn't remember where they came from. I got my answer when I felt the cut under my armpit. Something was still in my arm, so I grabbed it and yanked, letting out a groan as the object came free.

The object was caked with dried blood, and it resembled an arrowhead. The sides were jagged and sharp, and I saw a vein running down the middle. I realized then that it was a leaf. The Gogoat must have fired off a razor leaf when I climbed the tree. That would explain the rest of the cuts on my body too. I was just glad that this was the only one that managed to imbed itself in my body. The wound hurt, but it didn't look to deep. Lucky for me, otherwise I might've bled out in my sleep.

Bandit covered the wound with his web, and curled up in my lap, quickly falling asleep. I was impressed with his ingenuity. I didn't know how if having spider web on open wounds was a good idea, but I figured it was better than leaving them in the open air. For the first time I was I glad I caught Bandit. At the time any Pokémon would have done, but I honestly would've preferred something like a Dragon or Fire type as my starter, but Bandit had proven to be a reliable Pokémon. He wasn't the strongest or fastest, but in our short time together he had shown that he was smart, and he was listening to my commands pretty well. Now I would just have to figure out how we'd make it back to Jason.

"Fuck it all." I muttered. I forgot about Jason. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my phone. It wasn't broken, thank Arceus. I checked it, unsurprised to find two new texts and four voicemails, all from Jason. I still had service, so I called him back. He picked up almost immediately.

" _Jay, are you alright. Where are you? Do you know what time it is?"_

His voice sounded so frantic I almost laughed, but stopped when I remembered how well laughing went last time. I did check the time real quick though, it was well past nine.

"Yo," I muttered into the phone, trying to sound casual. "Sorry I called so late, we got attacked by a Gogoat after we tried to catch its calf."

" _Are you alright? Can you walk?"_ He still sounded worried.

"I'm a little beat up, but everything's attached. Bandit's alright too." I managed to pick myself up, being careful to not wake Bandit. I held him in my arm and tried to start the long walk back to the path, but I didn't make it very far before I had to sit down and rest.

" _How long is it going to take you to get back?"_

"Um, I don't know, maybe a couple hours." I wasn't going to make very good time like this.

" _It's alright I can come get you. Do you know where you are?"_

"Not exactly, but I headed straight south from where we left each other. I'm probably a little over half way to the river."

" _Ok just wait right there, I'll come find you."_

With that taken care of I walked over to the nearest tree and plunked down beside it. Putting my back to it, I pulled my pack of cigarettes out to celebrate my survival. I only had one left, which left me worried. We were still two days away from Ramona and I was pretty much out with no way to replenish my supply out here. I lit up my smoke, but the first drag had me coughing and more blood came up. It pained me to do it, but I tossed the cigarette away. Maybe it wouldn't be too hard to quit for a while.


End file.
